For my first blog post in 2021, I don’t have a new recipe for you. Instead, I just wanted to summarize what 2020 meant for me and my blog, and I wanted to give you an insight into some special moments I experienced. And, of course, I wanted to list your favourite 10 recipes on Crazy Kitchen. I couldn’t have mastered this unusual year without you!
Farewell, 2020
Who would have thought 2020 would be such a whirlwind of a year? I most certainly didn’t. Unbelievably much has happened this year, and I feel like the year has just flown by, even though we’ve all had our struggles.
Start of 2020 and Crazy Kitchen
I mean, I still remember being in Egypt during the last few days of 2019 … as if it were yesterday. We spent our holiday scuba diving (my sister and I went on our first night dive and got to see a huge turtle! Eeeeek!) and reading interesting novels on the beach. Every afternoon at around 4 pm, we and some other hotel guests would meet on the sandy beach volleyball court and have a few wild but fun tournaments. And I remember enjoying a marvelous dessert buffet on New Year’s Eve, starting 2020 in the best way possible 😉
And in January/February, I got my blog up and running. I can’t believe Crazy Kitchen is almost a year old already! I spent hours and hours coming up with a blog name, and as soon as that was settled, I spent even more time getting my blog into a somewhat presentable state. The cool thing about WordPress (the system that makes my blog look so great) is that you can constantly change the look of things – I changed the homepage design of my blog quite a number of times throughout the year. And I am sure I will always be changing something in the future, too 😉
I am so pleased that I was able to do this whole blog-thing for my final school thesis. I wanted to do something creative, and Crazy Kitchen is the result! I did a lot of research on (social media) marketing, and how food blogs can be successful. That was the written thesis part, and I got a fantastic grade for it. I don’t want to brag at all; I am just really really honoured!
I also see the progress I have made in food photography. I still have a long way to go, but I think one can already see the difference in my “skills” if comparing my first recipes (for instance these delicious Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies or Apple Frangipane Roses (those photos are quite the sight to the eye, haha :))) with my latest photos. I specifically love the photos from my Maple Pecan Bars or my Crème Brûlée. I also have had the chance to use a much better camera.
New hobbies
And then the first half of the year just flew by when we were in online school. I didn’t love it at all at the time, but looking back, it was one of the best things that could have happened to me this year. Yes, I worked extremely much and hard (I do a lot of work for school in general, and I felt like I worked double as much during the online weeks), but I also “fell in love” … with some new hobbies, that is 😉 I am single ;).
For instance, I really appreciated running/jogging and power walking. I discovered new routes in our forest, and I learnt to love nature more. About 2 years ago, I couldn’t even run 800 meters (half a mile) without stopping, and this year I successfully ran over 550 km in total (340 miles). I even did three half-marathons – my past-self would be shocked!
I also really fell in love with blogging and food photography. Because of me being home a lot, I had more time to really focus on my thesis a.k.a. blog compared to if I had been in normal school. Because of COVID-19, my supposedly most stressful school semester was a bit less stressful.
The year went on, going back to “live” school before the summer holidays. I had time to work on my blog again and I got to publish some really cool summer recipes, which I’ll talk about again down below.
After the holidays I had some crazy big exams, and I worked really hard on finishing my thesis in autumn. When I am finished with school (like, in 7 months’ time), I want to write a few blog posts about what I wrote my thesis on. I think my research might be interesting for quite a few people 🙂
The end of 2020
The last few months of 2020 also went by quickly. I held my thesis presentation, and now it’s all over and my blog is no longer a school project. It has turned into a hobby/business instead!
I got to work with some awesome brands – some as part of my thesis still, and others regarding my future “business”. Gosh, it still sounds surreal! 😉
I received many exciting products that I was and am allowed to use in my recipes. Some brands were unbelievably generous to me!
In fact, I received so many cool ingredients, baking tools and food props, that to this day I am not done yet with using them (up). That’s why you’ll still see some blog posts in 2021 where I might link to a brand that supported me for my thesis! 🙂
So, that concludes what 2020 was for me. I am fortunate enough to say that I stayed healthy, which I know wasn’t the case for everyone. We experienced hope, love, joy. We connected with neighbours, people in need, and more than ever with family and friends. We also experienced grief, shock, and every other emotion COVID-19 brought. It really was a roller coaster, and we can be proud to have made it so far. If we all keep protecting each other, this hard journey might be over sooner than we think 🙂
And now to move on to your top 10 recipes of 2020! Some of these recipes were made time and time again by you (thank you so much for sending me the photos of your creations, it truly makes my day!), and others received fantastic feedback whenever I made it for others. Let’s get on with it, shall we? 🙂
Crazy Kitchen’s Top 10 recipes of 2020
1. Crunchy Chunky Chocolate Cookies
According to my Google Analytics, this recipe was the most visited recipe on my blog. I think it is partly because of the big giveaway I hosted with Ovomaltine that this recipe is such a favourite. But I do know that this recipe got a lot of international traffic too, which is really cool!
If you’re looking for a delicious, a little bit unusual chocolate chip cookie, this one is for! Click here for the recipe.
2. Brown butter brownies
This was your second most favourite recipe on Crazy Kitchen, and I definitely can’t blame you. I love the moistness of these brownies, and the delicious chocolate and brown butter notes make these brownies over the top. They’re fudgy, yummy, and too good to not finish right away.
I tested this recipe around 8 times, and I made it several times for friends & family. I even made these for some of my teachers, and they were a huge hit!
This was also the number one recipe where I received the most photos from you. It truly delights me to know that people bake my recipes! Click here for the recipe.
3. Swiss Carrot Cake
This truly is the best carrot cake out there. It’s perfectly moist, slightly nutty, a little bit boozy (because we add a teeny-weeny bit of Kirsch) and has just the right amount of carrots.
You can make the recipe into cupcakes too. Click here for the recipe.
4. No Bake Biscoff Cheesecake Bars
I received a lot of organic traffic because of this recipe. Literally every few days someone would visit this recipe, which is totally understandable – it’s a keeper. Lotus Biscoff spread a.k.a. cookie butter is a fantastic invention, and made into a no-bake cheesecake cut into bars … it really really is good.
It’s a simple (summer) recipe, that just has to be tried out. Click here for the recipe.
5. Mini Black Forest Cakes
These cute mini Black Forest Cakes in a jar were another reader’s favourite. They’re easy to make and yes, just too cute to put into words.
The different components of the recipe definitely make the cake. You could even use store-bought chocolate cake layers, cherry jam and store-bought vanilla pudding/whipped cream to make this recipe simpler. Click here for the recipe.
6. Cherry Crumble Bars
Another summer favourite. These cherry crumble bars are one of my secret faves, too! To adapt them for winter, try subbing the cherries for cut up apples, or use frozen apricots or plums. Click here for the recipe.
7. Crème Brûlée with sparkling wine
This is one of the last recipes I published this year, and it was quite the hit too. The post for the Crème Brûlée is really detailed, and I am sure you will be successful yourself if you read through the post! 🙂 Crème Brûlée has the reputation for being a hard dessert, but it really isn’t the case. It just takes a little bit of patience. Click here for the recipe to make a deliciously creamy, slightly sweet French custard with a caramel top and alcohol-free sparkling wine.
8. Caramelized white chocolate Cookies
This recipe brought me quite a lot of traffic too. I know some of you tried this cookie recipe, which makes me really happy! 🙂 I just love the combo of the dark chocolate cookie and the sweet caramelized white chocolate. Click here for the recipe.
These next two final recipes of my roundup are two of my personal favourites. Whenever I baked these two, people couldn’t stop raving.
9. Maple Pecan Bars
These maple pecan bars are a huge hit whenever I make them. I had a similar recipe last year (before I even knew I would be blogging in the future), and come autumn 2020 I knew I wanted to publish these, too, so I set off to re-testing. And the re-testing was worth it.
The shortbread base is deliciously buttery and crumbly, and then there’s a creamy maple layer on top of that. On the surface, you’ll find lots of chopped pecans. I’m telling you, people couldn’t stop raving about these bars. I also baked these for the teachers at my school, and they were gone in a shocking tempo. One teacher even ate the offcuts that I was going to give to my sister later. Click here for the recipe.
10. Chocolate Hazelnut Tart
And the last recipe for my round up is this sinfully yummy, decadent chocolate hazelnut tart. I know it just went up on the blog, so it hasn’t gained a lot of traffic yet. But I made it several times, for friends & teachers included, and it was a tremendous hit. You’ll love me forever when you try it out! Click here for the recipe.
Friends, this concludes Crazy Kitchen’s 2020. And yep, 2020 was crazy. I wish you all the best for 2021; stay safe, stay healthy, and most of all, keep baking! Please do comment on and rate my recipes (possibly even send me photos, I absolutely love that!), and don’t hesitate to contact me if you want me to publish a certain recipe!
All the best – sending socially distanced hugs your way! 🙂
Joelle xoxo
Leave a Reply